STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State Baseball (24-31, 12-12 WAC) took both games of Friday night’s doubleheader against the Grand Canyon Lopes (30-25, 13-11 WAC) to achieve the series sweep on senior day.
The Texans won both games in walk-off fashion and put up double-digit runs during both contests.
Game 1: Grand Canyon 6, Tarleton State 16
After a scoreless first inning, Slade McCloud lifted a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to give the Texans an early lead. This marked the first of Tarleton State’s four home runs and also marked McCloud’s eighth of the season. The second baseman ended his season with a team-high 77 hits on a .360 batting average.
Sergio Guerra kept things going with a single, followed by a walk from Hunter Smith. Lane Brewster had a great bunt that loaded the bases, then all runners advanced thanks to a throwing error from GCU’s pitcher that scored Guerra. Ike Shirey capped off the stellar second inning with a two-RBI single that extended the Texans’ lead to five runs heading into the third frame.
Jake Burcham held the Lopes scoreless in the top of the third while the Purple and White continued to pile on the runs in the bottom of that same frame. After McCloud and Brewster walked, Shirey added to his RBI total with a three-run shot to right field. This was Shirey’s first homer since April 26th against Utah Tech and his 11th extra-base hit of his senior campaign.
Grand Canyon chipped away with two runs in the fourth inning, fueled by a two-run home run from Eddy Pelc. The Purple and White did not let this go unanswered and responded with three runs of their own. Trace Morrison hit a one-out double, followed by a walk from Carson Lorch to put runners on first and second base with one out. After a successful double steal, Guerra scored them both with a three-run bomb to left field, becoming the third senior to hit a home run on senior day. Guerra finished his season with a conference-leading .738 slugging percentage and tied Tyson Drake for the most home runs on the team (12).
Pelc hit his second homer of the afternoon in the fifth stanza, giving GCU three more runs. After a scoreless sixth inning, the Lopes put up another run thanks to an RBI single from Eli Paton, making the ballgame 11-6.
Tarleton State had a stellar outing in the bottom of the seventh, putting up four more runs off four walks, two hit-by-pitches and a single. Guerra achieved his third hit of the day with a lead-off single while Smith was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. After both of them advanced on a passed ball, Shirey had a four-pitch walk to load the bases. The Texans continued to get free bases off three straight walks and a hit-by-pitch, ultimately leaving the seventh inning with a 15-6 advantage.
Smith lifted a lead-off home run in the bottom of the eighth, clinching the walk-off victory for the Texans on senior day. Smith posted a team-high four runs during game one which led the Purple and White to a 16-6 victory.
Game 2: Grand Canyon 11, Tarleton State 12
Paton hit an RBI groundout to score Pelc in the first, giving GCU an early 1-0 lead. Drake responded with a lead-off home run for the Texans in the bottom of the first, tying Guerra for the most home runs on the team. The junior outfielder finished his year with a career-high 53 runs and 45 RBIs.
After Tarleton State went down on two strikeouts, Lorch kept the home run party going with a solo shot to left field. This gave the Texans control of a 2-1 lead heading into the second frame, where the Lopes tacked on another run to even things up at 2-2.
TSU put up three runs off three hits to regain the lead in the second stanza. Jaime Perez contributed with a lead-off single, notching his first of four hits during game two. After Braden Gostisha walked, Blake Wilson stepped up with a two-RBI triple to achieve his second extra-base hit of the regular season. The scoring spurt was capped off by an RBI single from Brewster, giving the Texans a 5-2 advantage after two.
The runs continued to pour on in the third inning, highlighted by a sacrifice fly from Gostisha that scored McCloud and a single from Wilson that scored Perez, giving Wilson his third RBI of the ballgame. The season finale remained at a stalemate until the top of the fifth, when Grand Canyon scratched off another run with an RBI single from Cannon Peery. The Texans were unable to answer despite a one-out single from McCloud.
Tarleton State didn’t put up any more runs until the bottom of the sixth when they had their best outing of the game, scoring four runs off four hits and a hit-by-pitch. Drake knocked a one-out single to start things off. Then, Rayner Heinrich was hit by a pitch and Morrison singled to center field to load the bases.
Lorch hit a two-RBI single to center field and Perez cleared the bases by blasting a two-RBI double off the wall. Both squads went scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings, leaving the game at 11-3 heading into the top of the ninth.
The Lopes orchestrated a fantastic rally in the ninth inning to come all the way back and tie the game up. Pelc drew a lead-off walk on a 3-1 count, followed by another walk from Paton. Peery singled to left field, scoring Pelc and putting two runners on with no outs. After a single from Carson Ohland that loaded the bases, Paton scored on a wild pitch to bring GCU within six runs. Brody Sexton tallied an RBI single with one out on the board, then Josh Wakefield reached base safely thanks to a defensive miscue that also drove in Ohland.
After a pitching change from the Purple and White, Emilio Barreras hit a sacrifice fly to score Marcus Galvan, making it 11-8 with two outs. Pelc stepped up and blasted a three-run home run to tie the game up at 11-11. GCU finished the ninth inning with eight runs off four hits and an error.
The game remained scoreless until the 11th inning. The Lopes got some momentum thanks to two consecutive singles from Wakefield and Barreras, followed by a walk from Pelc that loaded the bases with zero outs. Brendon Carter came in to pitch for the Texans, activating his clutch factor by striking out his first two batters. A great effort from Brewster on the defensive end helped put away the Lopes’ final batter via a flyout, giving Tarleton State a chance at yet another senior day walk off.
After the Texans grounded out on the first at bat, Brewster successfully walked on a full count to put a runner on base, then Drake walked to put Brewster in scoring position. With two outs on the board, the hometown kid Trace Morrison lifted a single to right field, scoring Brewster to walk off the season finale in his final at bat in Stephenville. Morrison finished his four-year career at Tarleton State with 190 hits, 108 runs and 101 RBIs, putting together one of the best careers that the Texans have seen since transitioning to Division I.
Following their sweep against the Lopes, the Purple and White will head to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. They currently stand as the sixth seed and will begin postseason play on Tuesday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium.
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